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Michael Kelly, chief financial officer of Piedmont Pharmaceuticals, has been named chair of the newly seated 24-member Advisory Committee for Biotechnology in the Piedmont Triad.

Michael Kelly

Daniel Erb, PT, Ph.D.

Kelly, who previously served as vice chair, succeeds Karen Hicks, vice president of human resources for Targacept, in leading the group.

Daniel Erb, PT, Ph.D., dean of the High Point University School of Health Sciences, will serve as vice chair.

“Bringing together a high caliber of regional leaders from industry and academia is a critical component to growing biotechnology statewide”, said Nancy Johnston, executive director of NCBiotech’s Piedmont Triad Office. “Having a chair from industry and a vice chair from academia provides for rich dialogue as we investigate and implement new ideas to support innovation and job growth.”

The committee’s quarterly meeting in September will be held at Syngenta’s Crop Protection Headquarters in Greensboro.

NCBiotech established the committee in 2003, shortly after opening the Piedmont Triad Office as its first location outside the Research Triangle Park headquarters. The Center has since opened regional offices in Greenville, Wilmington, Asheville and Charlotte – each supported by an advisory committee of business, academic and civic leaders.

“I am pleased to serve as chair of this committee, excited to work with Dan as vice chair and committed to helping grow the life sciences for our region” said Kelly. “A key focus will be to engage industry in the discussion with academic leaders to provide for a better understanding of how we can be productive together.”

“As a newer member of this advisory committee, I am honored to be serving as vice chair working collaboratively with Michael, fellow committee members and the NC Biotech Center,” Erb said. “The NCBiotech regional office is the ideal convener for this level of community engagement.”

The advisory committee works closely with NCBiotech’s Piedmont Triad Office, advocating for and enabling life science employment growth throughout the region. Initiatives have included the Wet Lab LaunchPad located in the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, which provides lab space to early stage companies; Triad BioNight, the marquee event for the Triad’s biotechnology community; and strategic work plans such as BioIgnite, focused on innovation, infrastructure, and investment to help grow jobs. The BioIgnite work plan is being led by Randy Pool, PE, managing principal of Stantec Inc. and recent honoree for the Biotechnology Service/Support Excellence Award presented by community leaders at Triad BioNight 2014.

Bill Dean, owner of billdean Strategies LLC., is beginning his second term as leader of the advisory committee’s Executive Council. That group, consisting of the committee’s members with significant years of commitment and contribution, provides a base of knowledge and visionary leadership to the full advisory committee.

NCBiotech’s Piedmont Triad Office also helps to deploy the Center’s grant and loan programs regionally and to make connections that help grow the life sciences statewide.

New members of the committee are:

Barry L. Burks, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research and economic development at N.C. A&T State University

Greensboro-based Kepley BioSystems (KBI), developer of a reusable, synthetic bait for the lobster and crab fisheries and other marine technologies, is one of only 11 U.S. companies invited to America’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Client Showcase in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 13.

Olav Rueppell, Ph.D., says his research at the University of North Carolina Greensboro clearly illustrates how relatively small but timely grant funding from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center can have a big impact.

Are you ready for chicken tenders that taste and chew like the real thing, even though they’re made from plant protein without a bit of chicken? A Triangle-based company, Improved Nature, already has them and other plant-based meat-like products on the market.

That was only one of the advanced food technologies discussed by a panel of innovators at the North Carolina Professional Ag Biotech forum Wednesday at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.